The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), on December 23, approved a total of INR 59,000 crore budget for the centrally sponsored Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme in order to benefit over four crores Scheduled Caste students in the next five years.
The Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a total investment of INR 59,048 Crore, out of which, 60% (i.e. INR 35,534 Crore) would be spent by the Central government and the rest by the state government.
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An official statement stated that this decision will replace the existing 'committed liability’ system with the greater involvement of the Central Government in this crucial scheme.
It further mentioned that the scheme would focus on timely payments, enrollment of poor students, comprehensive accountability, total transparency, and continuous monitoring.
The Prime Minister recently tweeted the cabinet’s decision on the post-matric scholarship scheme will ensure educational access to youngsters from the SC communities on a larger scale. The tweet further read that the chief aim of the government is to ensure top quality and affordable education for the youth.
The Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Castes will permit students to pursue any course from class 11, with the government sanctioning the cost of their education.
The statement further mentioned an estimated 1.36 crore poor students who are presently not continuing their education after class 10. The statement said that a campaign would be launched to enroll poor students, who have passed class 10, in the higher education courses of their choice and this would bring such students into higher education in the next 5 years.
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It further read that the scheme would be delivered via an online platform with robust cybersecurity measures that would ensure efficiency, transparency, accountability, and timely delivery of the assistance without any delay.
It mentioned that the states will undertake the full-proof examination of the caste status, eligibility, bank account details, and Aadhar identification on the online portal.
The Cabinet also granted permission for further strengthening of the monitoring mechanism through half-yearly self-audited reports from each institution, annual third-party evaluation, and conduct of social audits.
The Central assistance which was around INR 1,100 Crore annually during 2017-18 to 2019-20 would be increased by five multiple folds that would come around INR 6,000 Crore annually during 2020-21 to 2025-26.
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